CHICAGO — Credit union executives attending THINK 13 on Wednesday were given an unmistakable, undeniable proof that social media can become a powerful ally in making disruptive change.

The CO-OP Financial Services conference is meeting at Chicago's Swissotel from April 29 – May 2.

The message came from a twenty-something singer from Connecticut named Daria Musk, an up-and-coming performer who owes her career in a large part to Google+ and other social media.

Musk told the story of how she came to be one of the first musicians to use Google's new Google+ service to reach at first 10 and then hundreds and then thousands and millions of listeners and eventual fans around the world – a dream she said she had even before she had a clue that it could even be possible.

“For me, the music industry felt like a party that I was not only not invited to, but which was held in a fortress with the drawbridge drawn up and surrounded by man-eating alligators,” she told the audience.

“So I decided I had to crash the party and not only crash the party but leave the door swinging open behind me,” Musk said.

Musk proved to be a positive and disruptive influence for Google, which found itself moving forward with innovations to accommodate musicians and others who wanted to present things to wide audiences via Google+. The Internet giant also rolled out an app that let musicians use Google+ with much higher-quality sound.

“I didn't know I couldn't do what I did so I just did it,” Musk said, adding that credit unions should understand that authenticity is the new currency.